ALfheim Offline
by PsychoKoopa
Summary: In the world of ALfheim Online, something goes terribly wrong. When Sinon is suddenly disconnected after losing a duel, the team begins to investigate. Little do they know that this investigation may bring them back memories from the game that almost killed them years ago.
1. Chapter 1

_**Alfheim Offline**_

 _ **Chapter One**_

"Link start!" Those were the words that Kazuto Kirigaya shouted as he launched himself into the world of ALfheim Online. He hadn't played in a few days as he was busy working on his Mechatronics project. He decided to take a break and regroup with his friends online. He spawned where they all promised to meet up, outside him and Asuna's log cabin. The group was still exhausted over the recent events that had occurred in their lives. Yuuki's death, the captures of the Death Gun group, the team was just tired.

"Kirito!" The sword master turned around to see Asuna greeting him.

"Hey! How have you been?" replied Kirito.

"I've been okay. I'm still a bit shocked over everything that's happened. I still really miss Yuuki"

"It's okay. It's all over. We have some well deserved time to relax."

"Thanks for the reassurance." she said with an awkward smile. "Come on! Everyone's inside." Kirito followed Asuna to the front of their beautiful cabin. It brought them back memories from the days of the original Aincrad. It was hard for Kirito to imagine such a nice thing from such a bleak time in his life. He entered the house to find all of his good friends that he had made along his adventures having a meal.

"Hey man! Come on grab a seat." Klein started. "The food's really good". He said gesturing towards the meal in the center of the table.

"That's no surprise seeing as Asuna made it" Kirito complimented.

"Oh stop it you." Asuna said as she blushed. "I swear all you keep me around for is the food."

"Well you can't really get mad at him when your cooking is this good." Klein added. They began their meal. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the food to much to talk, but Kirito ended up breaking the silence.

"Hey where's Sinon?" Kirito asked.

"Hmmm. I'm not sure." Asuna pondered. "I remember her say she might be running a little late but she never told me where she was going".

"I think she said she was doing some duel to practice her bow skills some more" Lizbeth recounted with her mouth full.

"Well it does kind of sound like her. Always wanting to get stronger." Kirito thought out loud. "Do you know where this duel is?"

"Mmmm. Not exactly but if I had to guess I'd say it's in the plaza near the world tree."

"Hmmm. Well then, anyone want to go see a show?" Kirito asked the group who were just finishing up their meals.

"Yeah sure!" Klein responded. "I'm always up to watch a good fight."

"Yeah it seems like it'll be fun." Silica chirped.

"Well then it's settled. Let's get going." Kirito said as he led the team out the front door. They proceeded to make there way down to where Lizbeth had told them the battle might be happening. As they moved further forward they began to hear a strange rustling noise followed by a projectile flying through the bushes.

"What was that!" Leafa exclaimed. Another projectile closely followed just barely sliding across Klein's cheek, sending a small gust of wind against the group.

"Phew." Klein exhaled. "I wasn't exactly planning on getting shot in the face today but I guess that's just a hint about how this day might be going."

"Aw, Klein don't worry." Lizbeth reassured him. "At least it wasn't a rock or something. But then again knowing your personality, you're probably the only one who'd make a big deal over getting hit by a rock."

"Thanks Liz. You always know how to brighten up someone's day." Klein replied sarcastically. Upon closer inspection of the projectile, they found it to be an arrow. One of Sinon's arrows.

"Well guys, I think were headed in the right direction." Kirito said with a smirk on his face. The group darted down the path, eager to see their friend's battle taking place. They then saw Sinon in battle against a player they've never seen before. They ran towards the small arena to see Sinon's breathtaking fight against this mystery swordsman.

"Wow. He seems pretty good." Kirito said while watching the sword wielder dodge Sinon's speedy arrows. "Sinon's good but I'm not sure if she's ready for this much of a challenge."

"Kirito, cut her some slack. She has experience with weapons of that kind." Asuna reasoned.

"Yeah, I guess so." The battle began to heat up as the two continued to throw attacks at each other. Just then the unknown man knocked Sinon's bow out of her hands. Shocked, she stumbled to pick it up, but it was too late. The mysterious duelist delivered the final slash of his sword. That was the moment Kirito noticed something strange. As Sinon lay defeated on the ground, she appeared to be in physical pain with a shocked expression on her face.

"Guys, what's up with Sinon?" Klein questioned.

"Yeah, something doesn't seem right about her." Leafa added. Sinon stared towards the group as she disintegrated into thousands of pixels. Above the spot where she once was appeared the disconnected message. Kirito fell back into his seat stunned as his friends rushed over to him.

"Guys, something's not right about this." Kirito muttered. He looked visibly shaken.

"What do you mean?" Asuna shouted. The fall wind blew leaving a chill in the air and leaves where Sinon was moments ago. Kirito continued to speak.

"It's...just….what just happened makes me think that it wasn't any normal disconnection."

"You don't think..."

"No it's not Shinkawa and his brother. They're locked up, but I feel like something strange is go-" Kirito was interrupted by the sound of a notification from his menu. It was from Sinon.

 _ **END of Chapter One**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**ALfheim Offline**_

 _ **Chapter Two**_

 __"I need you to come to my house right now. It's an emergency." Kirito quietly read out. He responded to the message asking what was wrong. "Something weird happened. Just get over here now!" Kirito quickly logged out of the game leaving the rest of the group wondering just what exactly was going on. Lifting off his Amusphere, he quickly darted out of his room. Kirito ran outside to his motorcycle and jumped on hitting the gas as soon as he could and disappearing over the horizon. Thoughts of everything that had happened so far rushed through his mind. He couldn't stop imagining the possibilities of what could be happening. He reached Sinon's apartment building and leaped off of his bike, rushing towards the doors. He made his was towards the elevator eagerly and nervously waiting to meet Sinon and find out about this madness. His heart raced as he ran down the hallway towards her room. He knocked loudly on the door.

"Sinon! Are you okay?" Kirito shouted. The door creaked open. A scared looking Shino Asada appeared before Kirito. Her skin was pale. She looked as if she had just seen a ghost. She motioned Kirito inside of her apartment. The two sat down facing each other.

"Sinon. What happened?" Kirito questioned trying to keep the shaken young girl as well as himself calm. Sinon didn't respond. "Sinon. I just want to help. Everyone was worried. We're just wondering what happened."

"I….I don't know..." Sinon murmured. "J-just look." She began to lift the bottom of her shirt revealing a scar across her abdomen. Kirito's eyes widened as he stared at the gash.

"Wh...when and how did this happen?"

"...it happened when I lost the duel..." Thoughts of possibilities raced through Kirito's mind.

"W-what?!" Kirito exclaimed. "But how?!"

"I don't know." She appeared to be calming down. "I think I can piece together something out of this though." Sinon gathered her thoughts together and began to recount what might have happened. "Okay. The guy I was dueling defeated me with a sword blow to my mid-section, but the thing is something about it wasn't normal. In ALO, you can't feel large amounts of pain if any pain at all, but when I got hit…. It felt like it actually happened."

"So that's why it looked like you were hurt."

"I guess so….well then my Amusphere disconnected from the game. When I woke up I was still in pain. I looked for the source and found this scar….it..it was in the exact place where my opponent hit me." Her calm attitude disappeared after she finished her sentence. "Kirito…..I'm scared." she muttered. "I thought we were done with all of this. I thought we could just enjoy life after Shinkawa was arrested." A few tears ran down her cheeks. Kirito grasped her hand to comfort her.

"Listen. I know how your feeling right now." Kirito looked down at the ground trying to recount the gruesome memories of the game that nearly cost him his life. "When I first discovered the truth about SAO, I didn't want to believe it. I'm lucky I survived. All we know is that something isn't right here, and I promise you, we are going to get to the bottom of this." Sinon wiped away her tears and managed to regain her calm mindset.

"...T-thank you Kirito." She clenched her fist, stood up and began shouting. "If what's happening is what I think is happening… then I'm going to figure it out. Even if it's the last thing I do. There's no use in being weak and standing aside in a situation like this. If anything, doing that will only hold the team back. I'm going to fight this fight!" As those last words left her mouth she collapsed back into her chair clutching her scar.

"Sinon!" Kirito exclaimed. He looked around her room. "Do you have a first-aid kit? I think we should get that thing bandaged up."

"Y-yeah.. There sh-should be one on the wall near the door." Sinon weakly muttered. Kirito ran to the front door and grabbed the first-aid kit. He began to wrap a bandage around the young girl's injury.

"Listen Sinon, you need to rest. I'm gonna head back to ALO and meet with everyone. If you want you can join once you thing you're alright to. I'm not going to force you to do anything. If anything happens, let me now." Sinon nodded her head and went to go lay down. With that Kirito rushed back to the lobby and outside to ride his motorbike home. As he rode home, he tried to piece together what he had learned in his mind. What was happening wasn't normal. It couldn't be the Amusphere could it? No. It's not like the NerveGear. They deactivated any features that may affect the human body in a negative way. But what if it wasn't the developers who did this. Kirito was so focused in figuring out what was going on that he nearly missed an oncoming car. He finally made it home and rushed up to his room only to be stopped by Suguha.

"Hey Kazuto, is everything okay? What happened with Sinon?" she spouted.

"I'll explain that to you in game. We gotta meet up with everyone."

"Alright, I'll go log in." The two went to their rooms and put on their Amuspheres.

"This device….it has some of the same technology as the NerveGear...but could it really have some sort of effect on our actual bodies?" Kirito thought to himself as he lay on his bed. "We need to find the cause of all this. Before something worse happens." With that Kirito sent himself into ALO repeating the same words he always had. Even during the Aincrad days.

"Link start!"


	3. Chapter 3

_**ALfheim Offline**_

 _ **Chapter Three**_

 ***Author's Note: Special thanks to** **Mr Miliardo** **who made me realize that I should probably think of an idea on how anything happening in this story could be possible. Writing my friends. Writing is hard….Also go check out Noticed_Ninja on FictionPress (and also ). Enjoy!**

Kirito spawned where he had last been before confronting Sinon. He looked around thinking the same thoughts he had been thinking since this whole event started. Determined to figure out the cause of this mystery, he ran to where he thought the group would be. The log cabin. He quickly opened the door and found most of his friends inside. Klein stood up.

"Kirito. Did you figure out what's going on?" Klein asked seriously.

"I'll get to that." He replied. "Is everyone here?"

"Um, almost everyone." Lizbeth answered. "Asuna went out to go look for you but I think she's on her way back now. Leafa sent us a message saying she would be here soon, but besides that we're all here."

"Good. We need to hold a group meeting."

"What is this, an office board room or something?" Klein jokingly stated. Kirito's expression didn't change.

"Klein. I know you're trying to brighten the mood but...this is serious."

"...I-I know. Sorry."

"It's okay." As Kirito said that, the two large doors behind him opened letting a cool breeze flow into the room. Asuna and Leafa walked in together not saying a single word. No one said a single word. Silence overtook the room as everyone was focused on the same thought in their minds. What was going on? Everyone seated themselves around the table.

"...I guess I'll break the silence. Kirito what's going on?" Leafa blurted out. Kirito exhaled and began to speak.

"Alright. I went over to see Sinon. She told me what happened and apparently after she was disconnected, she found a scar on her stomach."

"What?!" Leafa exclaimed.

"Yeah. I know it sounds crazy. I'm still not entirely sure on how it could have happened."

"Well, in-game injuries can't transfer over to the real world can they?" Klein remarked. Silence once again overtook the room.

"That's the thing." Kirito muttered. "I don't want it to be and I'm pretty sure neither do any of you but...it might be possible." The rest of the group stared at Kirito. For a moment no one spoke, but they had a reason. They were shocked. How could these in-game injuries happen to the player in real life?

"K-Kirito….what your saying is that Sinon's scar is because of the game?" Klein stated.

"I don't k-I can't tell for su-" Kirito sighed. "Listen. Probably. When you launch Alfheim or use anything on the Amusphere, your body doesn't move. So there's no other real possibility. That scar happened during Sinon's fight according to her, so it has to somehow be related to the game."

"But how can we know for sure?" Asuna suddenly questioned.

"….Well, we have to test this theory."

"Oh no no no. I don't think so man. Don't be stabbing anyone in here with anything." Klein declared.

"I'm not going to stab anyone Klein. Calm down." Kirito replied. "….I'll be doing the testing." The group looked confused. Kirito unsheathed his sword from its scabbard.

"Kirito. What are you doing?" Leafa asked.

"...Exactly what it looks like." Kirito aimed the sword before his hand and brought it above his head.

"Wait...w-what." The group realized what he was doing and their eyes widened. Kirito yelled as he began to bring the sword towards the palm of his hand. Just as he was about to finish the job, something stopped him.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Alfheim Offline**_

 _ **Chapter Four**_

 _ ***Special Thanks to Noticed_Ninja for helping me write and come up with ideas for this Chapter and story as a whole. Check him out here on and check out his new Certain Magical Index fanfic as well as his previous RWBY fanfic.**_

"Stop!" Asuna yelled as she firmly grasped Kirito's arm. Kirito looked up breathing heavily. "Listen. I know we need to test the theory but doing this to your self isn't the right way to do it." Asuna looked shaken. Her eyes were watery.

"I don't want anything bad to happen to any of us."

"….A-Alright." Kirito murmured. "Everyone let's just….I don't know, go for a walk. It'll clear our minds so we can think about this whole thing." Kirito's calm voice and upbeat attitude returned as he led the group outside of the house.

"Um...I'm just gonna stay here and rest for a little while." Silica chirped.

"I'm too tired to walk, I'll just go out for a breath of fresh air." Lizbeth replied.

"All right suit yourself. It was getting kind of boring just sitting around in here." Klein declared, eager to get outside. The rest of the group left the cabin as Silica sat at the table in a silent, "zoned out" state. She stared at her hands, startled about the entire situation. She needed to know whether this could be possible. She was just as scared as Sinon was at first. She didn't want this to be true. With tears in her eyes she grabbed her sword and began do to just what Kirito attempted. The only difference between the two is that one went through with their plans. Screams rang out from the cabin. The group had already moved far enough out of the area for them not to notice. Except Lizbeth who stayed behind. She ran inside to see what the commotion was about. The rest of the team continued walking, completely oblivious to the situation.

"You weren't actually going to stab yourself right?" Klein asked.

"Well, I was but then I'd probably just end up moving the sword a bit on purpose so it'd just be a cut." Kirito replied.

"Well someone didn't see it the same way." Lizbeth asserted while running towards the group.

"What?" Kirito questioned.

"Something happened to Silica. You gotta come back to the cabin." The group quickly ran back to the house and threw open the doors to see Silica sitting just where she was before, holding her hand in pain.

"Silica! What happened!?" Kirito shouted rushing to her aid.

"I'm….I'm sorry." She whimpered. Tears streamed down her face, not only from the pain but from the disappointment that she believed she brought her friends.

"It's okay. Just...what happened here?" Silica got her thoughts together and began to speak quietly.

"I….I wanted to know for sure if any of this was possible." She looked towards the ground as she couldn't bring herself to look her teammates in the eyes. "I-I was scared. I-I'm sorry."

"Silica. Calm down. We're all afraid of what could be happening." Leafa tried to reassure her.

"I-I'm so-rry. I d-on't wa-nt anyth-ng to ha-ppen." Her voice began to cut out and her avatar gained a broken hologram look. Next thing the group knew she was disconnected from the game. Nobody in the group spoke. They were still confused and in shock. The silence was soon broken by than sound of Kirito slamming his clenched fist against the table.

"Kirito!" Asuna exclaimed worryingly.

"...We need to figure out exactly what's going on." Kirito remarked firmly. "I'm not going to have anything else happen to us." He spoke in a serious and concerned manner. "First thing tomorrow. Everyone meet up here and we are going to get to the bottom of this." The group nodded their heads in agreement. "Now..." Kirito said as he opened up the in-game menu. "I'm going to go check on Silica." He spoke those few words with no emotion and with that he was logged out. The team sat quietly.

Klein sighed. "Well, I think we should log off and get some rest. We're gonna need it for tomorrow." The group agreed and they began to leave one by one. Every one of them with the same goal. To figure out the reason for this series of these events.


End file.
